Rotary ore-roasting furnace.



No. 781,824. PATENTED FEB. 7, 1905. F. HEBERLBIN & W. HOMMEL.

ROTARY ORE ROASTING FURNACE.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 11.1904.

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[All/[#70081 PATBNTBD FEB. 7, 1905. P. HEBERLEIN & W. HOMMBL. ROTARY ORE ROASTING FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 11.1904.

3 SHEETS-BHBET 2.

IN VE lV TORS W/ T/VESSES No. 781,824. PATENTED FEB. 7, 1905. F. HEBBRLEIN & W. HOMMEL.

ROTARY ORE ROASTING FURNACE.

APPLICATION rmm JUNE 11.1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

W/TA/L'SSE'SI .tatented February 7, 1905.

FFICE.

PATENT FERDlNAND HEBERLEIN, OF LONDON, AND W'OLDEMAR HOMMEL, OF LEE, ENGLAND.

ROTARY ORE-'ROASTING FURNACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 781,824., dated February '7, 1905.

Application filed June 11, 1904. Serial No. 212,145.

To (all whom, [It may concern.-

Be it known that we, FERDINAND H Emm- LmN, a subject of the German Emperor, and a resident of 53 (.irracechurch street, in the city of London, and \VoLDmmr. Hommn, a citizen of the Swiss Confederation, and a resident of ST Burnt Ash road, Lee, in the county of Kent, England, have invented a certain new and useful lmproved Rotary Furnace Applicable for Use in Boasting Ores and for other Purposes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved hori- Zontal rotary muffle-furnace of circular construction for use in roasting ores or the like in an oxidizing or reducing atmosphere, our principal objects being to prevent the furnacegases mingling with those evolved from the ore or other material under treatment, to insure the thorough stirring and mixing of the said material, to greatly increase the length of the journey traversed by the material during its passage through the furnace, and to correspondingly augment the period during which it is exposed to the heat of the furnacegases, to insure the production of a thoroughly desulfurized or roasted product, and to enable the sulfurous acid or other gases evolved to be collected for subsequent use in the manufacture of sulfuric acid or otherwise.

Our improved furnace is particularly adapted for use in oxidizing or roasting sulfids such as zinc-blende, iron and copper pyrites, copper and lead mattes, nickel and silver sulfids, arsenical and antimonial suliids and compounds, telluride ores, and the like. It is, moreover, applicable for use in the manufacture of sulfates from sulfids, plumbatcs, and bioxids, and for the chlorination of gold, silver, copper, and other ores, in the manufacture of minium, for the reduction of sulfate of barium with coal to sulfid of barium, and, among other purposes, for drying materials of various descriptions.

ln the accompanying drawings, which illustrate a rotary muflie-furnace constructed according to our invention, Figure 1 is a vertical section on the line .r .r in Fig. 2; Fig. 2, a sectional plan through the upper and lower heating-chambers, and. Fig. 3 a vertical section on the line 3 in Fig. 2.

A rotary furnace constructed according to our improved method comprises a circular chamber A, composed of tire-bricks or other lire-resisting material, the floor B of the chamber serving for the reception of the ore or other material to be treated, while the under side of the floor and the upper side of the roof of the chamber are bathed by the furnace-gases, as hereinafter more fully explained. The space beneath the floor of the chamber is divided into three main compartments B B B, each of which is furnished with partitions 6 1/, which radiate from, but do not extend to, the center of the apparatus, these partitions being arranged in such a manner as to cause the circulation of the furnace-gases primarily from the periphery toward the center and, secondarily, from the center toward flues 0, arranged about the periphery. The heating-gases are preferably derived from two fireplaces or furnaces l) 1), arranged on opposite sides of the apparatus. As indicated by arrows in Figs. 2 and 3, the gases pass toward the center of the apparatus between the partitions I) 1/ immediately opposite each furnace, travel round the inner extremity of the partitions l), and return to the periphery between the partitions 1/, opposite the fiues 0. They are then led over the roof (1 of the ore-chamber A and ultimately escape by way of openings, the positions of which are shown dotted at 11 in Fig. 2. The roof of the ore-chamber is a fixture; but the floor B thereof, as also the heating-clarinber beneath the latter, is mounted upon a metal framework E, supported centrally on a pivot c and on rollers w, arranged about its periphery.

By means of suitable mechanical appliances, such as the gearing 0 in mesh with teeth provided on the periphery of the frame, a slow rotative movement is imparted to the structure.

To prevent the furnace-gases gaining access to the ore-chamber A, the upper and lower edges of the lower heating-chamber are respectively furnished with curtains 5 Z2 which work in circular troughs 6*, charged with sand.

Between the floor and the roof of the orechamber is arranged a device F for stirring the material and for feeding it gradually outward toward the periphery of the chamber, where it is discharged. This device consists of a number of fixed plates f, disposed at an angle of forty-five degrees or thereabout, the outermost plate f of the series, where the material is discharged into a chute f being so arranged that its distance above the floor of the ore-chamber may be adjusted to regulate the depth ofmaterial discharged.

The material to be treated is automatically fed to the table through a hopper G, arranged slightly out of center as regards the revolving portion of the apparatus, with the effect that as the floor B of the ore-chamber A rotates the material is brought into contact with the angularly-disposed plates f, the latter operating both to mix the material and gradually to push it outward toward the periphery of the ore-chamber. In order more thoroughly to mix the material, the orechamber may be furnished with a secondseries of plates f' arranged on the opposite side of the center, these plates being disposed at various angles for the purpose of moving the material both inward and outward or otherwise stirring it.

With a view to the supply of air when the oxidation of the material is required pipes H are provided, whichextend through the external walls into the ore-chamber A. These pipes may be furnished with suitable dampers for regulating the supply of air.

The gases evolved from the material while undergoing treatment pass through a suitablyarranged outlet (0 to acid-chambers, condensers,or other vessels, where they may be treated in any desired manner.

For the treatment of ore or materials which require a comparatively low temperature the construction may be modified and adapted for use with one fireplace, in which case the walls dividing the heating-chamber into compartments are perforated in order to facilitate the circulation of the furnace-gases.

Our improved construction of rotary muffie-furnace is specially suitable for ores containing a large percentage of sulfur, and once the reaction temperature is reached by heat from the grate further fuel is unnecessary, as roasting will then continue by itself.

IVhat we claim as our invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The herein-described rotary muffle-furnace for roasting ores or the like, comprising an ore-chamber the floor of which rotates, a heating-chamber immediately beneath, rotating with the floor of the orechamber, and a stationary heating chamber immediately above the ore-chamber; the heating-gases being caused to circulate first through the lower heating-chamber and subsequently through the upper one, substantially as herein described.

2. The herein-described rotary muflie-furnace for roasting ores or the like, comprising a circular orechamber having a rotatable floor beneath and in conjunction with which is a heating-chamber divided into three compartments through which the furnace-gases circulate, a stationary heating-chamber arranged above the roof of the orechamber, and flues communicating between the lower and upper heating-chambers, substantially as set forth.

3. In a muffle-furnace, a rotatable heatingchamber divided into three compartments which successively arrive opposite and communicate with the fireplace or furnace and which are respectively provided with partitions arranged in such a manner that the furnace-gases are caused to travel radially inward toward the center of the heating-chamber and then radially outward where they gain access to flues arranged at the periphery of the apparatus, substantially as herein described. In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FERDINAND HEBERLEIN. VVOLDEMAR HOMMEL.

I/Vitnesses:

H. D. J AMESON, A. NUTTING. 

